A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for a lot of Montana through sometime Wednesday night.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for northeastern Montana until 5am Thursday.
It has been extremely windy today with widespread wind gusts over 60 mph, and a few locations even saw wind gusts over 80 mph! It will continue to be very windy this evening and tonight, but the strongest winds will continue to shift eastward, so eastern portions of north-central Montana will be dealing with the strongest wind early tonight, while western portions of north-central Montana will begin to see the wind diminish. As we go through tonight, the wind is going to gradually diminish from west to east, with eastern portions of north-central Montana seeing diminishing wind after midnight. There is then going to be little to no wind around tomorrow for most of us, but along the Rocky Mountain Front, it will continue to be breezy tomorrow with sustained wind speeds between 10 and 20 mph, and it will be a bit breezy tomorrow morning in northeastern Montana as well.
There are going to be some scattered areas of snow, freezing rain, and rain around this evening and early tonight (before 12am) in northeastern Montana and in locations east of I-15 in north-central Montana. A light glaze of new ice accumulation and up to an inch of new snow accumulation is possible in locations that see this precipitation. Roads will be icy tonight along the Hi-Line from Hill County to Valley County, so please use extreme caution when traveling. We are also going to have decreasing clouds tonight. It is also going to be cold tonight along the the Hi-Line as lows are going to be in the single digits and low teens. Elsewhere, it is going to be chilly tonight as lows are going to be in the teens, 20s, and low 30s.
For tomorrow, we are going to have mostly sunny skies and dry conditions. We are also going to have a wide range of temperatures tomorrow as highs are going to range from the single digits and teens along the eastern half of the Hi-Line to the 30s and low to mid 40s elsewhere.
We are then going to have partly to mostly sunny skies on Friday with a few isolated snow and rain showers around, generally during the morning and generally along the eastern half of the Hi-Line. Partly cloudy skies and dry conditions are then expected on Saturday. It is also going to be breezy on these two days along the Rocky Mountain Front as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and it is going to be a bit breezy on these two days in some locations east of the Rocky Mountain Front as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. We are also going to have mild temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the 40s and low to mid 50s in a lot of locations (mid to upper 20s and low to mid 30s along the eastern half of the Hi-Line).
There is then going to be some rain and snow around Saturday night and Sunday morning in western and southern Montana as well as around the Helena area as a disturbance passes through our area. In north-central Montana, most of us will stay dry, but some isolated rain and snow showers are possible. We are also going to have decreasing clouds and slightly cooler temperatures on Sunday as highs are going to be in the 30s and 40s. Gusty winds are also expected in some areas on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph.
A few rain and snow showers are then possible Monday through Christmas Day (Wednesday), generally in the mountains around Helena, as a couple disturbances pass through our area. In north-central Montana, it will be mostly dry on these three days, although a couple snow and rain showers are possible Christmas morning. We are also going to have partly cloudy skies on Monday; partly to mostly cloudy skies on Tuesday; and mostly sunny skies on Wednesday.
It is also going to feel nice outside for this time of year on these three days as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s, 40s, and low to mid 50s in most locations. It is also going to be windy in some areas on Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 30 mph. Breezy conditions are then expected in some areas on Tuesday and Wednesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
